Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Sauce
The tenderloin is a nice, lean little cut of meat taken from the back side of an animal. Tenderloins have a reputation for being tricky, but that’s a load of horseshit if I ever heard one. Pork tenderloin is especially friendly I think, much smaller than a beef tenderloin, easy to find in stores, and quick to cook. The only thing to watch is not to over cook and that’s easy enough to do with this near-foolproof pork tenderloin recipe. You’ll sometimes see pork tenderloins sold pre-marinated in some suspicious liquid but COME ON
! It’s not worth the extra money when it’s so easy to make a tasty, tender tenderloin yourself, sans whatever weird crap is floating around in that vacuum-sealed bag.
The roasting method presented here is super basic. You can mix it up by adding different spices to the salt and pepper. Dry mustard is classic, this pork chop seasoning would be badass, too. Once you got it roasted, you can serve it with this apricot sauce like I did here (pinky swearz, it’s the tits!) or with a store bought chutney. You can also plan ahead for the week by roasting this on the weekend, then slicing it up later to make a quick stir fry or fried rice, dice it for filling Chinese steamed buns, add it to a quesadilla, or reheat it in some homemade barbecue sauce for faux pulled-pork sandwiches.
PrintRoast Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Sauce
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Sauce:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger)
- 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Sprinkle tenderloin with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil and butter in a cast iron skillet (or other heavy oven-proof skillet) over high until melted. Sear tenderloin 5 minutes on one side. Turn and cook another 3 minutes on the other side. Place in the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes.
- In another skillet, combine the oil and butter for the sauce over medium-high heat. Ad the onion and cook 5-8 minutes until very soft and slightly browned.
- Add the broth, preserves, ginger and mustard and stir to combine. Allow to simmer until the pork is cooked.
- Check the pork at 10 minutes. The internal temperature should be 155ºF. Cook up 20 minutes total until internal temperature is 155º.
- When the pork is cooked through, remove it from the oven. Place the tenderloin on a cutting board or plate to rest and pour any pan drippings into the apricot sauce.
- Add the vinegar to the apricot sauce and remove from heat.
- Allow the pork to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.
- Serve with the sauce.
47 Comments
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Hey Hilah! Great recipe for pork tenderloin. Actually, I do that a lot here, and I agree to always get the package sans all that marinade. Your apricot sauce looks great! The grainy mustard gives it a little kick. For more kick, we could add a little cayenne, BAM! I will try this sauce and let you know. Keep it comin’ Girl.
Thanks, Larry! Cayenne is always welcome in my kitchen.
I heartily concur on getting pork loin without the marinade, as the marinades tend to have a nasty industrial waste aspect to them.
Sauce was terrific!! Pork tenderloin tasted great with sauce. Will use it again.
Could you make this with veal or lamb? If so, what cuts would you recommend?
I haven’t ever cooked veal, honestly, but I can imagine the sauce would be fantastic over some broiled lamb chops!
I was thinking of making pork tenderloin for dinner tonight. Perfect timing!
I love it when that happens! Enjoy, Brian!
Hello Hilah! Huge fan from Norway chiming in here.
That apricot sauce of yours looks really delicious! What would you serve with the tenderloin and sauce? Rice, perhaps?
Hi Gunnar! Yes, I think rice would be great with this, as well as sweet potatoes or even buttered barley!
This looks AMAZING. I can hear my tummy growling DEMANDING I try this. I don’t cook or eat pork very often, but this looks so irresistible and yummy. Can’t wait to give it a shot.
I think you’ll love this, Amber! We did. And leftover pork went into a stirfry.
You mean there were left-overs…?
Ha! Well, with only two of us, we have tons of leftovers all the time.
Hilah. Seriously. This apricot sauce is the boss. And so are you!! We love this recipe and we love you too. Keep it up dudette!!!
Ha! I know, right?! I actually made this dish for some friends just last night.
Thanks for writing!
how can anyone take you seriously with your inappropriate mouth. You swear in your article and make inappropriate sexual comment in video. Shame!
Au contraire. Shame on you for coming to my “house” and trying to shame me for behaving differently than you think I should behave.
Hey, Hilah, I just read the post some this Karen person. There is No shame in your presentations! I read them all, and I am fairly conservative. If she does not agree with your very successful manner of presentation, then she can choose not to access them. As for the rest of us, we love you! Don’t change a god-damn thing! Be proud that your following is growning daily, and keep up the great work. Signed, Your Most Loyal Florida Fan.
I have been making this now for a decade! it’s always delicious! You had a Karen in your comments before Karens were a thing. Too funny.
Hey Hilah, thank you for this recipe! So good! I could just eat the sauce itself without meat (which I did in the end but my boyfriend said I am weird
) The apricot sauce and pork went really well together and the meat was super tender and juicy. Many many thanks!
That’s wonderful news, Veronika! I ate the sauce by itself, too, so I guess we are both weird.
I’m really happy you both liked it so much. Thanks for writing!
I made this for my family tonight, and it was delicious! I FINALLY know how to cook a succulent pork tenderloin thanks to you, Hilah
Marvelous, Lorena! I’m SO happy to hear that! Hope you try it with some variations of your own now that you have the basics down.
Just finished dinner of roast pork tenderloin with raspberry sauce since I didn’t have apricot preserves handy. We had it with rice medley and a big green salad. It tasted great. The roasting came out really good. Before I served it I added the sauce into the roasting pan so I could be sure to have all the brown bits. Oddly I’ve never done pork tenderloin before because so often all you see are the marinated ones which just look disgusting. Thanks Hilah! This will definitely be repeated.
Hooray! That’s great, Terry!
I’m sure the raspberry was a great variation. Hope you try other variations, too!
This was awesome. Delicious!!
Yay! Glad to hear that, Peggy.
WOW, I tried this last night, and I loved it. I love Pork Tenderloin and have BBQ’d it several times in my own marinade, but I liked this much better. The recipe was fast and easy too. I would certainly consider serving it to family and guests. I am encouraged to try more of your recipes now. You GO girl!!!
That’s great to hear, Steven! This is one of my favorites, too. Hope you do try some more recipes soon!
Hi Hilah –
Glad I found you – you are hilarious and awesome. It is stone fruit season, so I picked up some apricots to go with the pork t-loin I bought, the google image searched “pork tenderloin with apricot sauce” and liked your picture(s) the best! I am just going to chop up the apricots and macerate them with some sugar before adding them in as a substitute for the preserves – do you think that will work OK? Maybe add some lemon juice too or something? If you get a chance, let me know, and again – thanks for your awesome video! I love swearing and sexual innuendos (or blatant sexual remarks) in the kitchen – especially the fuckin’ swearing!!!
I think that would totally work, Stefana! Great thinking! Thanks for writing
Absolutely a winning recipe Hilah! As you stated, don’t but a tenderloin that has been marinated in some weird solution…..the apricot glaze is spot on, yummmmmmmmmmmmm
Thanks, John!
Merry Christmas!
I am interested in making this recipe, but i don’t have and any ground mustard! Any substie recommendations? Do marinate the beef overnight? If yes what do you use?
You can use whole mustard seeds or leave it out. I make the recipe exactly as written, so there is no marinade.
Hi,
This is Muhammad!
I do not eat Pork! I fat Camel!
How do you cook Camel tenderloin?
Made this tonight and we loved it! Didn’t really change anything other than reducing a bit for two servings and adding a touch of corn startch to just give a light thickening.
So great to hear, Paul!
Hilah,
I appreciate your experiences and knowledge on cooking. Some of your comments are funny but some are very unappetizing, especially talking about the shape of the tenderloin. We don’t need to know you have that experience.
All that said, thanks still for sharing your recipe(s).
I like honestly and appreciate the funny and quirky humor!! Thank you for it and the recipe!
Can I add the vineagar then reheat the whole sauce up again at my dinner party?
I think you could. Reheating the pork tenderloin might be tricky, though.
I discovered this wonderful recipe this morning and made it for dinner. My husband asked me to never lose this recipe which means he wants me to make it at lest twice a month. Thank you!
This was great! Can I freeze the leftover sauce??
I think it would freeze fine